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Macquarie poised to offer Â£2.7bn for ABP

A consortium led by Macquarie Bank, of Australia, is expected to offer nearly Â£2.7bn (â‚¬3.95bn) for Associated British Ports (ABP) in a move that would trump a Â£2.53bn bid from Goldman Sachs.

The Macquarie consortium, which also includes 3i and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has been given limited access to ABPâ€™s books after indicating that it was willing to bid at least the 840p a share offered by Goldmanâ€™s Admiral Acquisitions consortium. Macquarie is said to be prepared to offer about 865p a share, valuing ABP at almost Â£2.7bn, or more than Â£3.2bn including the ports groupâ€™s debt burden.

The Admiral consortium led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs is expected to match a possible Â£2.7bn offer for Associated British Ports from rival bidder Britannia Ports headed by the Australian bank Macquarie.

Analysts expect a formal Britannia offer for ABP, possibly later this week or early next week. The Goldman consortium is then expected to at least match or even trump the Britannia bid.

Speculation that more bidders may emerge heightened over the weekend. Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) - a Hong Kong-based infrastructure group in which Hutchison Whampoa has a near 90 per cent stake - is believed to be considering an offer. CKI is reported to have hired Rothschild to help it table a bid.